LOCATION KUNUWEIA HIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey-skeletal, ferritic, isothermic Typic Hapludox
TYPICAL PEDON: Kunuweia very gravelly clay loam - woodland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted. All textures are "apparent field textures.")
A1--0 to 12 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) very gravelly clay loam, brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry; strong fine and very fine granular structure; friable, sticky, slightly plastic; many roots; moderate, delayed effervescence with hydrogen peroxide; gravel is mostly smooth ironstone pebbles; few fragments of ironstone up to 10 inches or more across on the surface and in the soil; very strongly acid (pH 4.9); abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 24 inches thick)
B21--12 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4), and dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) gravelly clay loam (plinthite), reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) dry; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, plastic and smeary; few fine and very fine roots; many 1/4- to l-inch layers of very dusky red (2.5YR 2/2) extremely hard ironstone that appears to be unoriented, are few and appear to surround weathered boulders.
B22--24 to 60 inches; same as above except the nonstone layers.
TYPE LOCATION: Kauai County, Hawaii; 22 degrees 08' 8.4" north latitude and 159 degrees 38' 28" west longitude, north of borrow pit.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the B2 horizon (plinthite) ranges from 10 to 24 inches. Mean annual soil temperature is about 5O degrees F. Fragments of ironstone of cobble- and stone-size are few to common on the surface of the soil and in the A1 horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Halii, Kahanui, and Pooku soils. Halii soils have mean annual soil temperature of about 71 degrees F., lack plinthite, and have lenses or nodules that contain more than 30 percent gibbsite within depths of 40 inches. Kahanui soils have a petroferric contact within about 20 inches of the surface. Pooku soils lack plinthite within depth of 40 inches, have a fine-textured control section and mean annual soil temperature of about 71 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Kunuweia soils are on ridge tops. Elevations range from 3,500 to 4,000 feet. Dominant slopes are from 0 to 15 percent. The soils formed in residuum from basic igneous rocks. Average annual rainfall is 70 to 150 inches and nearly all days have cloud cover. Average January temperature is about 55 degrees F., average July temperature is about 64 degrees F., and mean annual temperature is about 60 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alakai and Kokee soils. Alakai soils are Histosols. Kokee soils lack ironstone pebbles and have an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Recreation and watershed. Vegetation is ohi (Metrosideros collina), koa (Acacia koa), blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), blackberry (Rubus rogersii), mokihana (Pelea anisata), olopua (Osmanthus sandwicensis), maile (Alyxia olivaeformis), lilikoi (Passiflora spp.), hilograss (Paspalum conjugatum), ricegrass (Paspalum orbiculare), uki (Gahnia gahniformis), uki uki (Dianella spp.), and ferns.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Island of Kauai, Hawaii. This series is inextensive, with a total area of about 800 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Soil Survey, Territory of Hawaii, 1949.
OSED scanned by SSQA. Last revised by state on 5/78.